How to deal with elbow and finger injuries?
Q: I’ve been climbing about a year now and I current boulder V5 and toprope 5.12b. Unfortunately, I have experienced many climbing related injuries such as elbow pain and finger pain. I seem to have climbed through the elbow pain, but the finger tendon pain just won’t go away. Currently, the middle finger of my right hand is pretty bad. In short, what can I do to maintain my current climbing strength and ability while recovering my injured fingers? — Kyle (Hillsboro, OR) A: For only climbing a year, Kyle, you are climbing VERY hard! The problem is that your forearms muscles and finger strength have increased faster than the tendons could compensate. As a result you have experienced elbow tendinitis or some inflammation and/or tears in your A2 pulleys (base of fingers). Very few climbers are able to climb through this injury–it usually just gets worse and worse. Bottomline: you probably need to take two months off from climbing. Since winter is upcoming, I suggest you commit to taking
